Shoe apron or protector



Jan. 13, 1948. B. F. MILLER' ETAL SHOE APRON OR PROTECTOR Filed April l2, I946 ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 13, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE .SHOEAPRON OR PROTECTOR Beulah-F. Miller and Ernest F. Probst, Cleveland, Ohio Application April'12, 1946, Serial No. 661,728

'1 Giaim. '1

Our present invention; comprises an improved article of manufactureinthe form of a shoe apron or protector.

Explaining thepurpose of .our invention,'it .is noted that a quite common practice of women in their-homes is to at-times work in the kitchen while wearing better clothes, and oftentimes high quality or dress shoes. The foregoing usually happens when specialihasteis required in preparing a meal, or under some similar condition, when a'lady'has not sufficient timeto put on her house clothes in lieu of dress clothes and shoes.

Having the foregoing in mind, we contemplate the provision, according to our presentinvention, of a simple form of apron orprotector member which "may readily be slipped over the-shoe, for the purpose previously referred to, and which may be quickly tied at the rear portion thereof in order to hold the sameinnplace upon the shoe.

The apron or protector member for Leach shoe, as provided by us, comprises primarily a front section adapted to cover the front half of the shoe, and spaced side members or flap portions which extend sidewardly of the shoe, toward the rear end thereof, at which portion said side flaps are attached together in any suitable manner.

It is contemplated Within the purview of our invention that we may make our protector article from glazed chintz, having various designs printed thereon, preferably in different colors so that ladies may choose attractive colors of the aprons or protectors when purchasing the same in order to match dresses which they have already acquired. Or, our protector apron may be made of various kinds of transparent materials, so that to a certain extent the apron itself would not be very visible and the shoe over which it is draped would primarily be seen.

A special further object of our invention has been to so design the apron or protector referred to that it may be made very cheaply, and that when it is applied to the shoe it will fit the shoe fairly snugly and can be readily attached about the ankle by means of suitable tie members at the rear end of the side portions of the protector.

A full understanding of our invention will be had upon reference to the following detail description setting forth a preferred form of the invention, in conjunction with the annexed drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a shoe for ladies wear, and our apron or protector applied thereover in operative position as when it would be worn by the person wearing the said shoe.

Figure 2 is a top plan view ofthe arrangement of the shoe and apron as seen in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the apron or ,protector, as when said apron, or protector is laid out flat, the elastic inset holding member being broken off adjacent to its endiportions to enable the said illustrated, and the rearwardly extending laces shown as they are ready for tying at the back of the shoe.

Now specifically detailing thepreferred construction of our apron, which ofcoursewould be used in pairs, for a'pair of'shoes, we refer particularly to Figures 1 and'2 of, the drawingsin which there is illustrated a common form of ladies shoe, designated at A. This shoe may .be a dress shoe, or one commonly worn.daily,,usually outdoors,'by ladies. InFigure l'the apron, generally designated B,ls shown in its Operative position over a shoe. The apron'B comprises a central bodyportion having the forwardly extending toe covering member'C which is shapedtoprovide a somewhat'hollowformation at its forward portion in order to extend over and fit the toe portion of the shoe A. Extending rearwardly from the central body portion of the protector B are the side extensions or flap portions designated D. These portions of the protector B are sufiiciently long that they will extend practically to the rear end of the shoe A at the heel portion of the latter and substantially cover the side portions of the shoe A, so that, in conjunction with the front portion C, the protector of our design set forth will practically cover the entire shoe.

We prefer to provide reinforcing means for the edge portions of the protector B, and for this purpose of utilize bias tape, or any equivalent reinforcing material designated E, the same extending along the edges of the protector throughout the marginal portions of the latter.

By reason of the rearward extension of the flaps or side portions D of our protector, these portions are spaced somewhat at the point designated F in the drawings, and on this account the parts D can extend at opposite side of the ankle of the wearer and embracing the ankle may be attached by means of the lacing parts G which lace parts are virtually extensions of portions of the margin reinforcing bias tape E, as well seen by reference to Figure 3 of the drawing.

Now it will be understood that we have described above the primary and utilitarian construction of our invention, as shown in the drawings. But it is to be understood that the apron or protector may be made of different artistic appearances, as by providing lacing at the front portion, a cross-toe tape, and any desirable de signs of an ornamental nature, or otherwise.

The peculiar formation of the front end of the apron B is such as to afiord a pocket structure, so to speak, as previously generally referred to, so that thi pocket structure will snugly fit the toe of the shoe and tend to prevent rearward displacement of the apron along the shoe as the apron is being worn.

Connecting the lower portions of the sides of the protector B, and preferably attached to the lower edges of said sides is an elastic member H, which member is designed to extend across the shank portion of the shoe A and hold the apron in its downward adjustment upon the shoe while worn. By reason of the elasticity of the member H, it is obvious that the shoe of the person applying the apron B may readily be slipped forward between the flap or side parts D of the apron into the front portion C, with the elastic member H stretched beneath the sole to facilitate this action. Thereafter of course, the apron being fully emplaced upon the shoe, the lace parts G may be tied in a bow, or otherwise, as seen in Figures 1 and 2, thereby holding the apron in place upon the shoe.

Bearing in mind that ladies working in kitchens with nice clothes being worn and their better shoes in use can very quickly slip the aprons or protectors of our'invention over their shoes and tie them in place, it will be seen that the use of our protector will prevent any liability of soiling of shoes as by grease or foreign matter dropping thereon while the protector is being used.

Owing to the simplicity of our article, it may be manufactured very cheaply in a multitude of designs of pleasing appareance and may be sold at such a low price that many women will desire to obtain several pairs of the protectors for use with difierent clothes, and sometimes with different kinds of shoes. The material from which we make the protectors may be glazed chintz having waterproof characteristics, or may be of other fabrics of waterproof nature, thus to facilitate the protection of the shoe when the apron is applied thereto.

With each shoe protector we provide a plurality of pins, which may be inserted at intervals through the marginal edge or tape E of the protector so that the shanks of the pins extend between the sole and the upper of the shoe to hold the protector firmly in place thereon.

Havin thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A shoe protector of the nature described, comprising a front portion of bottomless hollow-like form to extend over and receive the front upper portion of a shoe, side portions at the rear of the front portion, extending therefrom, to cover the sides of a shoe at the rear thereof, means to attach the protector over a shoe, the side portions being integral continuations of the front portion, combined with tape reinforcing for the edges of the protector, said tape reinforcing being extended away from the protector at the rear extremities of the side portions to form tie laces.

BEULAH F. MILLER. ERNEST F. PROBST.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 282,915 Miller Aug. 7, 1883 Des. 97,524 Geayer Nov. 19, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 349,673 Great Britain June 4, 1931 

